Life Line
by JRWStudios
Summary: Strange, how one person can cause you to change so much. That man, he made me change... No, he gave me a new life, well, actually he gave me a life period. Not like I would have had one before. But how can this miracle worker love a broken girl like me?
1. Prologue

Tony huffed as he followed Pepper and her work detail around the small Russian town, already bored out of his mind. It was the first of several stops their little 'work detail' had to make on their "tour".

In reality, Stark Industries had been commissioned by the Russian government to help it provide… something (to be honest Tony hadn't listened to Pepper when she tried to explain the details) to the outlying towns and villages.

So, first chance he got he slipped away, ready to head back to the hotel. But as he wandered through the dirty alleys he soon heard whimpers, automatically recognizing the severe amount of pain hidden in the light sound. He carefully made his way toward the source, ready for anything.

Well, except for what he found.

Lying on the ground was a young woman, badly hurt in many ways. Tony covered his mouth as he kneeled beside her, checking her for a pulse as he looked her over. A gaping hole in her chest and no limbs at all, it was hard to think she was the one making the noise. But when she rolled her head to the side and looked up at him, he felt his heart break Even in the dim lighting, he could see her eyes brimming with tears. He immediately got on the phone, taking off his jacket to wrap around her. "Pepper I've got an emergency! I have to get back to the tower, and I've got to do it now!"

{What's wrong?}

"I'll explain later!" He carefully lifted the girl into his arms and dashed off. He wasn't even halfway to the hospital when a S.H.I.E.L.D. craft flew down over him. "Stark we heard your call! What's wrong?"

"Oh God Natasha I am so glad to see you!" Tony watched her open the bombay and jumped on as fast as he could. "Get us to the S.H.I.E.L.D. medical ward now!"

The woman didn't question him, only went supersonic as fast as she could. Within moments they were at the ultra secure, ultra effective hospital. Natasha watched in confusion as Tony hopped out with the girl still carefully held to his chest, and wasted no time in following after him. Almost immediately after setting foot inside the facility was Tony surrounded by doctors, and they looked on in amazement at the near-lifeless girl so carefully held in his arms. "I need help! Now! This girl is seriously hurt!"

The doctors quickly set to helping the man, leaving no reason for him to protest until he was forced to actually wait in the waiting room. Natasha looked at him in confusion as he anxiously paced back and forth.

"Wow Stark, this is the first time I've seen you so worked up."

"Can't help it..." he sighed and sat down, but was up again in a flash when a doctor approached him. "What is it?!"

"Mister Stark there seems to be a problem. Do you know who the girl is?"

"Of course I don't! I found her dying in an alley in Russia!" He growled. "What's going on?"

"She's in surgery now, but we can't get her prosthetics because we don't know if she'll live. There's a disease eating away at her heart. Even if we can deal with it, without being constantly hooked up to an electric pulse to keep her heart beating she won't live. Unfortunately we can't do anything-"

"I can." Tony said the words without thinking. "Just keep her here long enough for me to make her an arc reactor. As for the prosthetics, I can do that too."

"...we still have absolutely no idea who this girl is."

Tony paused, suddenly unsure. But when he thought of the desperate look she had given him in the alley, he locked his jaw. "Then I'll adopt her. Not like she has a family to object after all."

The doctor seemed unsure, but nodded. "I'll bring you the paperwork..."

Natasha watched the man plop down, pulling out his phone to get on the Internet. She watched him get on some website, not sure what he was doing. When the doctor returned the phone was put away, and a pen taken up. Both people curiously looked over Tony's shoulder as he wrote down a name...

Arina Anthonva Stark.

Natasha seemed surprised, realizing that her comrade's quick Internet search much have been for a crash-course in Russian names. As the doctor took the papers away Tony turned to his friend. "I have to get to the tower."

"Take the jet, I'll stay here for her."


	2. Chapter 1: A Home

Darkness, everything was shrouded in darkness. A whimper escaped a sore throat as light blue eyes forced themselves to open. A tilt of the head was met with a severe pain, and the sound of metal. The girl watched a man jump up, his large hands gently tilting her head back. Fingertips ghosted over her neck, making her confused when the feeling disappeared for a moment before a woman's voice reached her ears.

"Is she okay?"

"She is now, don't worry Pepper."

The girl groaned, looking up into the eyes of the man who pulled her from the alley. "Kto ty?"

"Angliyskiy."

"Who are you?" She tried to move her body, but went wide eyed in shock when she felt some things she hadn't felt in years. "I-I have legs?"

"And arms, well sorta." The man grinned sheepishly and helped her to sit up, watching her examine the robotic limbs attached to her. "I'm Tony by the way. Your new father."

"Father?" She tilted her head.

"Yes, I adopted you. You don't mind living with me now, do you?"

"Adopted... Did you give me a name?"

"Yeah, Arina Anthonva Stark." He rubbed his neck. "Uhm, I kinda had a lil help with that though."

She nodded in agreement. "I like it... Papa."

Tony smiled, motioning for Pepper to walk over. "And this is Pepper, my girlfriend."

Pepper gave a shy smile. "You can just call me Pepper..."

"Pepper..." Arina nodded, but groaned when her stomach started to complain louder than Tony's before dinner. Her "papa" laughed and helped her down from the metal table she had been on. "Here, let's get you something to eat!"

Arina hesitantly tried to walk, letting the other two support her. But in looking down at her feet she noticed a glowing in her chest. Tony, upon noticing where her gaze was, scoffed and shook his head. "That's an arc reactor. It'll keep your heart beating."

She nodded, and looked back up as they helped her into the elevator. Pepper gave her a reassuring smile, but frowned when the doorbell rang. She and Tony exchanged a glance before helping Arina from the elevator. Tony left to answer the door as his daughter was led to the kitchen, and groaned when he opened the door to find the Avengers standing on his doorstep. Bruce gave a shrug.

"Natasha told us about your new... charge."

"Fine... you guys can meet her just don't go crazy okay? She hasn't even seen her own reflection yet."

Steve nodded and led the others inside. Tony huffed and motioned for them to follow him to the kitchen, where they found Arina trying to figure out a fork. Her father ran over to help her, surprising everyone with how gentle he acted. He even smiled when he saw her successfully use it herself! Pepper shook her head and brought the girl a big dish of food, laughing as she happily stuffed her face. Natasha gave an approving nod.

"She's definitely doing better than before."

Clint smirked. "Not bad Stark."

Arina looked over at them curiously. "Papa?"

Tony sat by her. "Its okay, these guys are friends. Hey Nat you speak Russian right?"

The redheaded watched the girl's eyes light up. "Da I do."

Arina smiled brightly. "Yay."

Bruce kneeled beside the girl, examining the metal plate on her neck. "Hey Tony?"

"Yep? Oh that. It's a stability implant, she has six of them to help her bones support the prosthetics." Arina's hand went up to the metal plate, almost as if to confirm that it was there. Tony gently pulled her hand away, but in the process noticed something else.

"Hey Pepper hand me that flashlight."

Pepper did as she was told, and watched her boyfriend shine the light in the girl's eyes. Her right eye cringed instinctively, yet her left just stared ahead as if nothing was there. Tony had to hold back a gag as he looked at the greying white area of her eye. He hesitantly pressed his fingertips to it but recoiled at the gooey feel. Arina just turned her head to look at him.

"Papa?"

"Did you feel me touch your eye?"

"Did you?" She seemed confused. "I haven't felt anything in that eye for a while."

Bruce quickly examined it for himself and quickly seemed sick. "It's dead..." Arina looked back at Tony as he locked his jaw. "We have to remove it quickly or it'll..."

Tony nodded. "Arina, honey we have to take you back downstairs okay? We're going to help you."

Arina gulped. "Will it hurt?"

"A little, but I promise it won't be nearly as bad as everything else you've been through."

"I trust you papa."

Tony smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "Good, this is your home now, and I promise I'll do whatever I can to help you get better."


	3. Chapter 2: Light at the End of a Reactor

Tony grimaced as he listened to Arina screech in pain. He hesitantly walked over to the girl, a robotic eye in his hand. He hated that the reason she was in pain was because of his technology, and nearly begged her to tell him what he could do to make it up to her. And now, Bruce had just finished implanting a special chip in her brain that would connect to the mechanical eye in her father's hand. Tony looked down at the eye in fear, worried that it wouldn't work. The brown iris stared back at him, making him shudder.

Bruce carefully took the end of the cord and hooked it in, popping the eye in the girl's socket with a soft grunt. Arina blinked away the tears she hadn't realized built up, and looked up at the man with her blue and brown eyes.

"It works papa." She smiled. "I-I can see!"

Tony sighed in relief. "It works..."

Bruce wiped his forehead off. "Thank god... I'll go let the others know."

No sooner had he started for the door did the others bust in. Thor walked over with the others close behind, and looked at the girl's new eye. "A unique color for a unique girl."

Tony rolled his eyes. "It's the same color as my eyes Thor."

Clint shrugged. "I don't think that's what he meant Stark."

Natasha nodded. "Hey, I'm just glad it worked."

Steve obviously wasn't sharing their feelings as he scowled at the robotic parts. Tony noticed his friend's disgruntled expression and shook his head. "Hey Arina, ready to see your room?"

"My room? Oh da!" She smiled and carefully got herself down from the table. Tony helped her take the first few steps toward the elevator before she could make it herself, and everyone piled in to take the trip to Arina's space. When the elevator reached that floor the doors opened wider than before, and opened out into a large, comfortable sitting room. Arina hesitantly walked out onto the floor, the others following closely. Tony gently directed her toward a set of double doors, opening them up for her to look in. The girl looked around the spacious bedroom, walking over to sit on the queen sized bed. "It's nice papa. Did you do this?"

"Yeah, just for you." Tony watched her get up and walk around again. She studied everything with a calculating gaze, like she was looking for something. When she stopped, she stood in front of her desk, looking at the empty space above it. "Papa can I have something to hang over this?"

"Of course."

Steve looked back at his friends as Arina approached. "We should be leaving."

Clint gave a nod, but Natasha just seemed a little confused. Bruce just shrugged and followed them out, passing Pepper as she walked in. The woman gave Tony a look before turning to Arina. "So you like your room?"

"Actually she loves it. Guess my taste won this battle."

"Your taste?"

"Who was it that wanted to get that tacky beige sofa? The cream one obviously goes better."

Arina giggled and plopped down on said cream sofa, sinking into the plush leather sofa. "I like it~"

"See?"

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Daddy's little girl already? Wow you work fast."

"I have a feeling I'll be spoiling her." Tony grinned and walked over to his daughter. "Anything you want, just name it."

"Well... How about school?"

"Home school would be best."

"Then let's do it."


	4. Chapter 3: Mechanical Skills and Dinner

Tony smiled as he watched Arina take a large engine apart. She carefully put the pieces in different places, before starting to put it back together. He saw her hands shake slightly, and realized she knew he was watching. He gently lay his hand atop hers and helped her hold steady, making her calm down some so she could carefully put the engine back together with his help. "Easier than I thought it would be papa."

"You're a natural engineer! Now lets try something harder."

{Sir I'm not so sure that's a good idea.}

"Relax JARVIS I got this."

Arina watched her dad pick up a bit of a mechanic suit and put it on the table by the engine. "This?"

"Yup. Now, take it apart." Tony took a step back and watched her examine it. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, but it was a damn brief one before she dived headlong into the task. He felt a grin spread on his face as she dismantled the piece, doing it with such ease that he had no qualms about telling her to reassemble it. Now that was more of a challenge, with so many pieces and moving parts, but she succeeded. Arina turned to watch her father try to manipulate it, pleased when he was able to.

"Good job Arina! You'll be building these yourself before you know it!" He patted her head. "Are you sure we're not related?"

"I'm sure papa." She smiled and knocked his hand away as Pepper walked in. The woman seemed a little worried, wringing a magazine in her hands. "Pepper?"

Tony turned to her. "Something wrong?"

The redhead held out the magazine. On the cover was a clear picture of Tony carrying poor Arina into the house, under the caption "Stark welcomes limbless orphan". "The press is all over this."

The man took the magazine, growling as he looked at it. "Damn..."

Arina tilted her head. "Papa?"

"Pepper take Arina to her room and pick out some nice clothes for her. I need to do something real quick and then we're heading out for dinner."

"Uh okay..."

Tony watched the two women leave before walking over to a shelf. He pulled down a few small tools and went back to the piece of the suit Arina had re-assembled. He set to dismantling it and rebuilding to finish up a set of thinner prosthetic arms he had been working on since he had brought Arina home. Now that they were finally done he went upstairs to where the girls were waiting. Arina looked over at him, then the arms with curiosity shining in her eyes. Tony smiled and walked over, eyeing the iron orange blouse and designer jeans the girl wore. "Arina can you take your shirt off for a moment? I don't want to mess it up."

The girl nodded and removed the unwanted cloth, leaving her sitting there in her bra with the arc reactor shining brightly in her chest. Her father carefully removed the prosthetics connected to her, leaving her confused when she looked at what was left of her right arm and saw a metal disc left there. He didn't her give a long time to think about it before he connected the new arms, making her grunt from the pain that came with her nerves connecting with the wires. She looked down at the new prosthetics for a moment before starting to move them. They weren't nearly as heavy as the ones she had previously had. "Is this what you were doing papa?"

"Yep. Arms up!" He watched her lift her arms before helping her back into the blouse. "Now let's go get dinner!"

The girls smiled and stood, each taking an arm. They followed him out to his favorite car and got in, leaving him to hop behind the wheel. In a flash they were racing down the highway toward town. Not long after were they pulling up to a jam packed restaurant, paparazzi crowding the path leading in. Pepper gave her boyfriend a bewildered look as he got out to help Arina out of the backseat. Cameras flashed as the trio walked up to the door, Tony's arm protectively around his daughter's shoulders. Reporters flung questions their way, but only one made Tony pause.

"Mr Stark is it true you've welcomed an orphan into your home?"

Tony turned to the reporter, gently turning Arina to face them as well. "This lovely young girl is my _daughter_ Arina. And yes, she has been very warmly welcomed into the Stark family."

More questions came at them as he turned and lead them inside. Arina giggled quietly and poked her father's side. "Papa~"

"Hush." He smiled and rubbed her head as they were quickly lead to a private table. "No need to be shy."

"Alright."


	5. Chapter 4: Protection

A/N: I promise the next few chapters will be longer to make up for the shortness of the previous few.

* * *

Arina scowled as she sat on her bedroom couch, her eyes fixed on the news. She read the Russian subtitles with a frown, not liking everything being said.

[So Stark's decided to show his face again, and just look at the lost little kitten he had on his arm! A Russian orphan named Arina, apparently adopted not long ago by Stark himself. Not only does she have no limbs, as you can clearly tell in this picture all her limbs are robotic like her father's famous "Iron Man" suit, but the only thing keeping her alive is the same device her "father" used to have in his chest not long ago! Kinda makes us want to ask if she was adopted as a guinea pig or on a whim of pity. Wonder what Stark'll do to her next-]

"Mute!" Tony glared hatefully at the TV as he walked over to Arina with a tray in his hands. "Don't listen to that crap Arina, they're paid for their lies and trash."

The girl looked at him and nodded, but he could still tell she was uncertain. So he sat by her and put the tray of cookies and soda on her coffee table. He wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close. "Hey don't worry Arina. I adopted you because I saw a fire in your eyes in that alley. You were too stubborn to die, like me." He smiled. "I could already tell you were like me, so I opened my arms to you so I could give you all the love and warmth you wanted. You're a rare girl, and one day they'll regret their lies."

"Alright." She rest her head on his shoulder. "Papa, why do they make you seem so mean?"

"Because I used to be mean and self centered. But I've changed since then." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Now I'm just a doting father. Now, how 'bout movie night with your old man?"

"Da!" She smiled and grabbed a cookie. "All night?"

"All night."

* * *

Tony gave a groan and shook his head, looking around in confusion before realizing he was on Arina's couch. The girl lay stretched out across him and the couch, her head resting on his chest. A smile on his face, he carefully shifted her off him, laying her on the couch to finish sleeping. He covered her with a plush blanket before pressing a gentle kiss to her forearm. Moments later he was heading down stairs to get breakfast. "JARVIS what's for breakfast?"

{Pancakes and eggs sir.}

"And for Arina?"

{Rye bread with butter and sliced sausage with black tea.}

"God that's not much. Throw some eggs on the plate with it."

{Yes sir.}


End file.
